Pleasure-railway construction



Ju y 15 1924. 1.5015061 J.. A. MILLER PLEASURE RAILWAY coNs rRUcTIoN .Filed Feb. 1, 1924 Patented July 15, 1924.

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JOHN A. MILLER, or HQMEWQOD, rumors.

' PLEASURE-RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

. Application filed February 1, 1924. Serial No. 689,867

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1-, JOHN A. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, and-a resident of Homewood, in the county of Cook and State oi Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lleasure litai h way structions, ojf whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to pleasure railway structures, particularly to improved trackconstruction therefor.

In pleasure-railway structures to which my invention relates heavily loaded passenger oars travel very rapidly over abrupt summits and dips and -around sharpcurves, and provision must be made to eliminate jarringand to make riding of the cars over the track I flexible, yielding, and easy. In

pleasure railway structures, the track is supported on trestlework built to give the necessary summits, dips and "curves, and a usual practice has been to lay cross ties on this trestlewor k and then laminated wooden stringers on which yielding flexible rails, usually in the form ot flat bars are laid, the stringers being secured on the cross ties and the rails onwtop ot-the stringers. In order to get the desired sensation -the abruptness of the dips, summits and curves has been greatly increased and consequently greater care mustbe taken in the track "GODStI HOtIOH to obtain the desired flexibility and safety. The flat rails which "have been used are not as rigid as the stringers onwhich they are laid and the rails would have atendency to buckle and curl up at the ends, there being so little available surfacetor welding the rails together atthe ends. It has become very desirable to use more rigid rails, preferably Ein thetorm of steel beams with ver' tical webs as for example I-beams. iSuch beams are isuffliciently rigid-to be secured directly to the cross ties and to be engaged on their tops :by' the wheels of the vehicles traveling over the track. Such beam -structuresaISo aflord the necessary rail surfaces for safety. appliancessuch as safety wheels or rollers. However, while such beams are sufliciently rigid inthemselves to be directly secured to the cross ties and to support the load traveling thereon they are -not'suifi-' ciently yielding to give "the requiredflexibility, resiliency and ease of-rid'ing. In the old arrangement Where the laminatedfl ex ible wooden stringers are interposed between the ties and the flexible :flat rails the restruction posts forming part of the-sup porting trestle work are bridged at their tops by flexible preferably wooden track beams which are free to flex between the posts, and the ties rest on said track beams intermediate the posts so that when a load travels over the rails secured to the ties the rail structure as a whole may yield verticallyrlue to this flexibility of the track beams between the posts.

As "the beam rails afford sutficient surf ace at their ends they canbe readily welded togetherfend to end to thus form a continuous smooth track which in itself is rigid but which as a wholemay yield vertically on account of the flexible supporting track beams referred to.

@n the accompanying drawing any improved construction and arrangement is clearly shown. On the drawing,

'Fig. 1 is a side elevationa'lview of a sec tion of a pleasure railway structure, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional" view on plane 2- 2, 1 showing rear view: the

corner of a car and'the engagement ot-the car supporting wheels andsa'fety rollers with the rail beams. V

The trestleor supporting structure for the track is shown as comprising sill beams 10 which follow theprofile of thegrou-ndiand rest preferably ona concrete foundation 111.

Resting on the foundation sills are the3uprights 12 in the iiorm' of wooden ;or'-steel posts or structural work, and these uprights support and are bridged at theirtbpsby-the track beams 13 preferably of wood-and" either insingle pieces orfoflaminated construction' so as to be elasticand yieldable vertically, the beams being engagedonly by the upperjends 'Qfthe uprights a o d entirely :tree in between so that they may bowwhen under load. The spacing between the uprights will of course depend upon the which may be of wood or of metal, and these ties are located preferablymidway between the uprights 12 so as to take full advantage of the flexibility of the stretches of track beams between uprights, as clearly shown in The uprights 12 are of varying lengths to support the track beams 13 at the vertical curvature or elevation which is desired for the rails,and on the ties are secured thev used depending upon the car construction to be used on the structure. Light weight beams can be readily rolled in bending machines on thejob to the desired vertical or lateral curvature, while those of heavier weight can readily be rolled in the'mill to the desired curvature before delivery on a job. As the beams afford ample area at their ends they canbereadily welded securely together so as to form a continuous smooth track particularly at abrupt summits and dips and at sharp curves, thus reducing chances for derailment to a minimum.. Y

The rails in the form of standard steel beams adequately afford the necessary engaging surfaces for safety abutments or rollers on the cars whose supporting wheels run along the top of the beams. In Fi 2 the car construction shown comprises the body 16 supported on the cross beams 17. The vehicle supporting wheels 18 have their axles 19 supported in angle bars 20 secured toadjacent cross beams and these wheels engage with the top of the rail beams 15 here shown in the form of I-beams. Associated with each vehicle wheel is a safety roller 21 positioned horizontally and journaled in a bearing frame 22 rigidly secured to the car body. By engaging with their cylindrical surfaces against the web of the rail beams these safety rollers limit the lat eral displacement of the vehicle, and by engaging with their upper corners against the under side of the top web of the rail beams the rollers limit the vertical displacement of the vehicle, these safety rollers while permitting limited lateral and vertical play of the vehicle, serving to keep the vehicle to the rails particularly at the abrupt summits and dips and around lateral curves, such leeway graduating and easing the travel of the vehicle over and around the curves and making the riding smoother and at the same time more sensational but entirely safe.

In order to maintain the popularity of pleasure railways they must be sensational and to meetthe demands the summits, dips and curves have been made very abrupt, but my improved structure permits such riding with entire safety and with the greatest degree of comfort to the passengers. The track structure comprising the strong rigid rails in the form of standard beams pro vides continuous smooth and unjointed wheel surfaces and strong confining walls for the safety abutments or rollers. While the track'structure is of itself thus strong and rigid, it is yieldable and cushioning as a whole on account of the engagement of the rail supporting ties with the flexible track beams 13 intermediate the supporting uprights 12. As a heavily loaded car or train travels over the track structure the load is transmitted to the tie beams, and to the track beams 13 between uprights, and the track beams will flex and yield and thus gradually take up and cushion the impact and load, particularly when the cars reach the bottom of a steep incline and upgrade. In other words, the same flexibility, cushioning effect, and easy riding are afforded by my structure comprising the stiff rigid rails as was afforded by the old structures in which flat rails are secured on flexible laminated wooden stringers. My improved structure requires less material and less installation expense and depreciation is considerably lessened. The rigid continuous and smooth rails considerably reduce the wear and tear of the vehicles thus reducing the cost of repairs and maintenance.

I do not desire to, be limited to the exact construction and arrangement shown and described, as changes and modifications can be made which would still come within the scope of the invention.

I claim as follows:

1. In pleasure railway constructions, the combination of rigid supporting uprights spaced apart, a flexible rail beam resting on the top of and bridging between said uprights, cross ties engaging with said track beams intermediate said uprights, and rigid rail beams secured to said ties, said track beams flexing between said uprights to yield under load on said rails to thereby cushion the travel of cars over said rails.

2. In pleasure railway constructions, the combination of a vertically flexible track beam, vertical supports engaging at intervals with said track beam but said beam being free between said supports to flex vertically, ties resting on said beam intermediateits supporting points, and a rail secured on said ties.

3, In pleasure railway construction,the

combination of a track structure comprislng tlebeams and ralls 1n the form of rigid steel beams secured thereon, track beams supporting said ties, and upright supports for said track beams engaging therewith in termediate said ties, said rails being rigid in themselves but said track beams being vertically yieldable below said ties whereby said track structure may as a whole yield Vertically during travel of loads on said rails.

4. In pleasure railway construction, the

combination of a rigid supporting structure comprising spaced apart uprights, an intermediate supporting structure supported on said uprights and bridging therebetween, and a track structure comprising cross ties and rails directly secured thereon, said rails being in the form of steel beams with rigid standing webs, said ties engaging with said intermediate supporting structure intermediate said uprights and said intermediate supporting structure being vertically flexible whereby to yield to permit bodily vertical give of said track structure during travel of loads thereover.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 25th day of January, A. D.,

JOHN A. MILLER. 

